Five Things to Watch for at UFC 97

Apr 18, 2009

The UFC returns to the Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday for UFC
97, eh? Weak attempts at adopting Canadian vernacular aside, the
promotional big dog travels heads North for the first time since
national hero Georges
St. Pierre trashed Matt Serra at
UFC 83 last April. Here are five points to watch come fight night
-- one for every finger in the fist.

Fans are begrudgingly forgiving at best and unapologetically
forgetful at worst. So should Anderson Silva lose to Thales
Leites in the main event, his aura as the world’s best will
take a major hit -- one Silva can’t afford given his softness as a
top draw despite a nearly unparalleled (strike nearly from the
record if he wins) UFC win streak.

Add a looming retirement and a performance against Patrick Cote
at UFC 90 last October that deviated from his usual murderous
formula, Silva taking on Leites -- who seems to be battling
Travis
Lutter and James Irvin
for his least compelling opponent -- is a lukewarm proposition.
Anytime Silva steps in a cage it’s a must see, but Leites does
little to balance his side of the equation at the moment.

Lutter subverted Leites when, as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu mainstay, he
was submitted by Silva. Even James Irvin had a weight-class
differential obfuscating the fact that he was spoils for a
conqueror. Leites’ controversial win over Nate
Marquardt and submitting Drew
McFedries, a slugger whose three UFC defeats were all
submissions, in his last two outings has him limping into the fight
from a popularity standpoint. His last fight wasn’t even slated for
the main card.

While Leites’ jiu-jitsu credentials certainly endow him with the
capability to topple the world’s top middleweight, Silva’s expected
to finish the fight in decisive, dramatic fashion to answer any
questions that arose after the Cote fight. Anything less would fuel
the fickle expectations unfortunately attached to being one of the
best in the world.

Mining 205 Pounds

In the featured fight of the night, Mauricio
“Shogun” Rua looks to victimize Chuck
Liddell. Despite his inability to storm the UFC after a Pride
run that inspired armies, Rua remains the young gun in this bout.
Liddell losing three of his last four bouts convincingly in the
past two years has him looking like a 39-year-old rather than “The
Iceman.” If Rua wins, he recaptures the energy that he never
brought in the Octagon. If Liddell wins, he reminds fans he’s still
more useful as a fighter than trivia question. This fight is
finding gold at the top.

Photo by Sherdog.com

Cane vs. Cantwell is
a quality matchup.

There’s plenty of other digging going on, too,
when the main card showcases young light heavyweights Luis Arthur
Cane versus Steve
Cantwell and Brian Stann
taking on Krzysztof
Soszynski. None of these fighters have established themselves
like Rua and Liddell, but Saturday night may provide glimpses of
where they’re headed.

Cane has the most to gain after dispatching
fast-rising-faster-fading Rameau
Thierry Sokoudjou, and pleased fans with particularly brutal
performances in his last two UFC bouts. However, should WEC
holdover Cantwell defeat “Banha,” he’d surpass prospect status and
begin to enter contender talks. Stann needs a major UFC debut after
being stripped of his WEC luster at the hands of Steve Cantwell and
to avoid becoming another young talent who can’t make it in the
majors. In his way is Soszynski, who was primed for the UFC
regardless of “The Ultimate Fighter” and will likely enjoy the
reality show bump among the fans. “The Polish Experiment” needs the
‘W’ for his Canadian brethren and to capitalize on his popularity
while its still around. The same is true for his TUF brothers
Eliot
Marshall and Vinny
Magalhaes, when they tangle on the unaired portion of the
event.

Heavyweight Hits

The last fight on the main card is between two big men looking to
shine in a Shane
Carwin-Cain
Velasquez crazy division. Cheick Kongo
and Antoni
Hardonk entered the UFC at UFC 61 and 65 respectively, where
standout knockouts were followed with blundering showings on the
mat. Both are hoping to build win streaks and lay claim to “the
most feared striker at heavyweight” title or, at least, marked
improvement on the ground. Kongo’s visibility and progress seems to
be greater, but Hardonk’s cutting leg kicks can be the formula for
getting noticed in a contender-hungry division.

Middleweights on the Rebound

Canadians Jason
MacDonald, Denis Kang, and
David
Loiseau will enter the Octagon trusting victory can please
their fans and keep them off the UFC’s chopping block. MacDonald’s
exciting tenure has been marred by an inability to win when he’s
all-in. Opponent Nate Quarry
is ready to keep it that way, if only to erase a quick submission
loss to Demian Maia
that prevented him from demonstrating anything offensively.

Kang’s inconsistency may not be tolerated for long thanks to the
pretty pennies he earns, so a repeat performance of his baffling
guillotine choke loss to Alan
Belcher in his UFC debut won’t be tolerated against UFC
newcomer Xavier Fouka-Pokam, who has the standup and international
experience to challenge the well-rounded American Top Team
fighter.

Loiseau is re-entering the UFC after mostly underwhelming fans
since his title loss to then-champion Rich
Franklin. Given the talent he’s shown and the suspicion he’s
either hoarding it or lost it, “The Crow” is required to deliver an
inspiring performance against Ed Herman, a
fighter also flailing at 185 pounds.

Fouka-Pokam doesn’t have the fallback of being an “Ultimate
Fighter” alumnus or UFC veteran like Quarry and Herman, so a
winning performance from him seems more pressing. Conversely,
Quarry and Herman can’t fall to their Canadian opponents despite
home field disadvantage if they want job security or respect in the
contender line that seems miles away from Anderson Silva.

Grant(ed) Success?

T.J.
Grant, Canada’s top prospect at 170 pounds, makes his
long-awaited debut in the Octagon. Ryo Chonan is
the welcoming party and he intends to crash. Home field advantage
is not a courtesy extended to many, if any hot UFC prospects, so
Grant would be wise to astonish and gain momentum as the UFC
searches for maple leaf stars. The UFC’s other notable 170-pounder
is champion Georges St. Pierre. Grant doesn’t train with “Rush”
like another UFC Canadian welterweight Jonathan
Goulet, thus a Grant win could be the first in a long,
best-case-scenario journey that culminates in a Canadian versus
Canadian title bout, drawing megabucks.

Canadians Mark Bocek and
Sam
Stout round out the card against David
Bielkheden and Matt Wiman.
The four UFC veteran lightweights are wishing for wins as well,
though their performances will have to be true standouts to
graduate out of the shadows of the main attractions.